Saturday, May 31, 2014

Star Trek Science a Reality?

By Douglas V. Gibbs

We have seen the impact that the Star Trek television series and movies has had on our world.  Technology has taken a queue from the famous science fiction creation of Gene Roddenberry.  From flip phones, to nano-technology, the shows and movies have definitely made an impact.

Some of the science, however, is too amazing even for us to pull off, right?

Maybe not.

Tractor Beams and Transporters may have a place in our society after all.

Tractor Beams:

Though not capable of bringing a starship into tow, the latest version of our own tractor beam is much improved, pulling with a billion times more force, and able to tow objects a million times larger than previous designs for tractor beams.

It has been created by Dundee University physicists and uses ultrasound energy to pull a hollow triangular object towards the energy source.

Although their work has caught the interest of sci-fi fans, it has significant potential for ultrasound-based clinical techniques.

By using the ‘tractor’ beam, and knowing how to shape it, scans and the treatment of cancer could be improved.

It could allow tumours to be targeted by guiding a drug capsule which would release its contents at a specific point.

It is all about understanding how to shape the beam in order to target what we want to.

Star Trek Edges Closer to Reality: Scientists create a tractor beam - U.K. Mail Online

Transporter:

Though teleportation does not currently exist, scientists are saying that the technology is possible.  According to a study published by the Journal "Science," though we may not be sending human beings from location to location anytime soon, scientists are able to move "quantum information" by about ten feet without altering the spin rate of an electron.

What this means is that though the teleportation of live tissue is not possible at this time, scientists have been able to teleport data.  The next experiments will aim to increase the distance in which data is teleported.

A possible blow to Albert Einstein’s disbelief in the theory of quantum entanglement, scientists were able to keep the particles “entangled” even after teleportation.

“There is a big race going on between five or six groups to prove Einstein wrong,” Ronald Hanson, a physicist who leads the group at Delft, told the New York Times. “There is one very big fish.”

A Star Trek transporter is not quite something they achieved, but this definitely leads them in that direction.

NSA, IRS, and Obama wants to Know All About You

By Douglas V. Gibbs

A new database for the federal government is taking the fears of a big brother government breathing down our necks, and knowing everything about us, to new heights.

The new "national" database (remember, we are not supposed to have a national government. . . it is a federal government, a union of States) is being assembled by the The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Don't worry.  It's for your own protection. The U.S. Government promises to use it in a benign manner.

In that database will be your personally identifiable information from head to toe.

FHFA will manage the database and share it with CFPB. A CFPB internal planning document for 2013-17 describes the bureau as monitoring 95 percent of all mortgage transactions.

FHFA officials claim the database is essential to conducting a monthly mortgage survey required by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and to help it prepare an annual report for Congress.

See?  They promise they aren't going to use it to monitor you, or dig into your personal data.

Critics question the need for such a “vast database” for simple reporting purposes.

In a May 15 letter to FHFA Director Mel Watt and CFPB Director Richard Cordray, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, charged, "this expansion represents an unwarranted intrusion into the private lives of ordinary Americans."

The fourth amendment is on life support.

Critics also warn the new database will be vulnerable to cyber attacks that could put private information about millions of consumers at risk. They also question the agency’s authority to collect such information.

The database expansion will include a host of data points, including a mortgage owner’s name, address, Social Security number, all credit card and other loan information and account balances.

The database will also encompass a mortgage holder’s entire credit history, including delinquent payments, late payments, minimum payments, high account balances and credit scores, according to the notice.

The two agencies will also assemble “household demographic data,” including racial and ethnic data, gender, marital status, religion, education, employment history, military status, household composition, the number of wage earners and a family’s total wealth and assets.

There is no indication they will share that information with other agencies. . . but we know what will happen if this is allowed to happen.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, who sits on the Hensarling panel and who has followed the mortgage database's development, said he was “deeply concerned” about the expansion.

“When you look at the kinds of data that are going to be collected on individuals, just about anything about you is going to be in this database.”

According to other critics, "It seems they’re just adding information and they’re not really stating where it’s going or what it’s going to be used for. There’s no straightaway answer. They say they are trying to assemble as much information that they can."

"Why are we collecting this amount of data on this many individuals?"

If the Obamacare website it any indication on how government doesn't seem to grasp security and making a system work properly, how can we ensure this database has the necessary precautions to make sure that individual consumers are protected?

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

New Federal Database will Track Americans' Credit Ratings, other Financial Information - Washington Examiner

Constitution Radio: Dawn of a New Age for Conservative Entertainment

Constitution Radio with Douglas V. Gibbs welcomes guest Owen Shroyer, a fellow radio host that will be joining Doug on the new Liberty Tree Media network.  Join us for a discussion about the coming network, and how you can access it in the near future.

Today's radio program begins at 2:05 pm on KCAA AM1050, KCAAradio.com.

After the guest, we will discuss the Book of the Week, Constitution Quest Question of the Week, and the. . .

5 Big Stories of the Week, May 31, 2014

5.  Obama pushes for Jim Crow style laws in Hawaii

http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/27/obama-administration-seeks-race-based-government-in-hawaii/

4.  VA Chief Shinseki Resigns

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/shinsekis-plug-is-pulled.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/carney-dodges-queries-on-obamas.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/barack-obamas-war-on-veterans.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/every-american-can-relate-to-va-scandal.html

3.  Exit, Stage Left, Jay Carney

https://www.ijreview.com/2014/05/143020-breaking-jay-carney-quits-will-miss/

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/carneys-departure-comes-as-press-obama.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/jay-carney-pulls-ejection-lever.html

http://www.glennbeck.com/2013/08/01/cbs-reporter-forces-carney-to-clarify-which-scandals-are-phony/

2.  UC Santa Barbara Shooting Aftermath

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/seeking-to-eliminate-elliot-rodgers-due.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/peter-king-renews-gun-control-push.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/psychotic-uc-santa-barbara-shooter.html

https://news.yahoo.com/daughter-of-newtown-victim-speaks-out-against-joe-the-plumber-135839094.html

1.  Obama administration exposes CIA Agent’s Cover

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/white-house-exposes-cia-identity.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/oops-there-goes-another-cia-spook.html

http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/2014/05/white-house-blunder-reveals-cia-assets.html

US Soldier Bowe Bergdahl Freed By Taliban In Afghanistan

by JASmius

The only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed by the Taliban in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Obama administration officials said Saturday.

Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was handed over to U.S. special forces by the Taliban Saturday evening, local time, in an area of eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border. Officials said the exchange was not violent and the 28-year-old Bergdahl was in good condition and able to walk.

In a statement, President Barack Obama said Bergdahl's recovery "is a reminder of America's unwavering commitment to leave no man or woman in uniform behind on the battlefield."

The handover followed indirect negotiations between the U.S. and the Taliban, with the government of Qatar serving as the go-between. Qatar is taking custody of the five Afghan detainees who were held at Guantanamo.



The two takeaways from this news?  (1) Now we know the cover Barack Obama is going to use for his long-promised closing of Gitmo; and (2) we also know what the Taliban will be doing for the next two years until we give Afghanistan back to them: kidnapping every American national, military or civilian, that they can get their hands on.

Way to go, Barry.  Looks like the Kabul CIA station chief your Regime betrayed this week is going to have a lot of company in jihadist captivity.

McLaughlin Pollsters See Possible GOP Tsunami In November

by JASmius

Despite persistent rumors of John Boehner's secret amnesty plotting, despite Ted Cruz's government shutdown "antics," the Big Red Tsunami forecasts just a-keep on a-building:

The nation's undecided voters could bring on a "Republican Senate tsunami" in November, say two Republican strategists, pointing to numbers gathered in surveys their company has been conducting in recent months.

"Can it get worse for the Democrats — a strong double-digit House gain for Republicans and a Republican Senate tsunami?" write pollsters Jim and John McLaughlin in an article for National Review.  "A further analysis of the undecided vote says yes."

They explained that one out of every six voters — or 16% — remains undecided about who will get their votes for Congress. Meanwhile, those same voters disapprove of the job President Barack Obama is doing by 30%-67%.
In addition, they disapprove of ObamaCare by 62% to 29%, and even more, the undecided are saying they want a Republican congressman as a balance against Obama by 42% to 17%.

"The Republicans could take six in ten of these undecided voters and have a national majority vote for Congress of about 52%," the McLaughlins write.

Which means they really aren't all that undecided.

I don't tend to blog about polling much, or at all, outside of election season.  As a blog reader, it's always seemed to me like posts about this poll or that survey in the campaign offseason (if there is such a thing) are what staff bloggers put up on slow news days when there's nothing interesting about which to write.  If you understanding polling like I do - i.e. it's meaningless until we're inside a week of the actual election, and the rest of the time it's just manipulative left-wing psych-ops and propaganda - it'd be even worse.  I would just write a pro forma post once and thereafter just change the dates, candidate and/or issue names, and numbers, because nothing else I would write would differ in the slightest.

So why am I posting about this McLaughlin survey?  Because it reinforces the trend toward an electoral genocide of congressional Democrats this November, driven by the ObamaCare cataclysm, the engineered Obamanomic depression and attendant runaway unemployment, and "liberally" garnished by the burgeoning mound of Regime scandals, of which VA-gate has become the dagger aimed at Barack Obama's heart.

And, yes, also because The One isn't on the ballot.

Could the GOP screw it all up, like they did in 1998 in Bill Clinton's "six year itch" midterm when they demoralized their base by running away from impeachment?  Certainly; their 2014 House counterparts could do the equivalent thing by caving on "comprehensive immigration reform".  But remember that HillaryCare never passed, and so it's destruction of the private health insurance market never became a horrifying reality and political anchor around the necks of congressional Dems four years later.  That's why I maintain that the question isn't whether Republicans retake the Senate and expand their advantage in the House, but by how much they do so.

Judging by the open signs of panic emanating from elected Donks on an almost daily basis anymore, I'm guessing their internal numbers are showing the same thing as those produced by the McLaughlin brothers: an E.L.E. (Extinction Level Election) inbound, like a killer asteroid, that will mow down Democrats like the mythical dinosaurs of old.

If I see plausible polling stories indicating an interruption or derailing of that trend, I'll dutifully post about them here as well.  But this campaign is shaping up as a wet dream even the Stupid Party can't spoil.

American Daily Review: Stays on the Job as Politicians Resign

As "Separate But Equal" Jim Crow style laws are recommended by the Obama administration in Hawaii, VA Chief Shinseki and Press Secretary Jay Carney are resigning.  The UC Santa Barbara shooting at Isla Vista has drummed up cries for gun control by the federal government, while Obama enables guns to be pointed at a CIA agent whose identity was supposed to remain secret.

UPCOMING BROADCASTS of American Daily Review Radio. . .

Join JASmius and Douglas V. Gibbs for two hours of hard hitting conservative radio

American Daily Review

The pre-game show, the tail-gate party, the first part of a Saturday Three Hour Extravaganza for Constitution Radio on KCAA-1050AM - The Local Show with a Global Footprint.  Learn more!

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today at 12:00 pm Pacific

Are Bicycle Helmets a Waste of Time?

By Douglas V. Gibbs

I wore no bicycle helmet when I grew up, and I crashed my bike a number of times, and I survived.  For me, however, the laws regarding wearing helmets is not so much about whether or not helmets are safer, but whether or not government should be dictating to us on whether or not we, or our kids, must wear them. . . or suffer the penalty of law.

Government was not instituted for the purpose to protect me against myself.

Here is a bit from the article about Bicycle Helmets:

A leading neurosurgeon has controversially claimed that cyclists who wear helmets are wasting their time.

Henry Marsh, who works at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London, said that many of his patients who have been involved in bike accidents have been wearing helmets that were ‘too flimsy’ to be beneficial.

He made the comments while speaking at the Hay Festival during a discussion with Ian McEwan, whose latest novel Saturday centre's around a neurosurgeon.

He cited evidence from the University of Bath that suggests that wearing a helmet may even put cyclists at greater risk. The research showed that drivers get around 3 inches closer to cyclists who wear helmets because they perceive them as safer.

He said: “I ride a bike and I never wear a helmet. In the countries where bike helmets are compulsory there has been no reduction in bike injuries whatsoever.

In other words, like usual, liberal left theories are not necessarily correct.  They rarely are.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Douglas V. Gibbs to speak in Chino on United States Constitution

Coming June 14 at 9am Douglas V. Gibbs, host of Constitution Radio on KCAA AM1050, and author of 25 Myths of the United States Constitution, will be speaking at the Chino Tea Party Meeting at Marie Callenders, 5455 Philadelphia Street, Chino.


-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

What "Socialist Reality" Looks Like

by JASmius

If Representative Joe Garcia (D-FL26) is any indication, a particularly virulent strain of mental illness:



"Communism works".  And it does, you know - for the communists.  All those "good government jobs" wind up being venued in labor camps, though.

The medical benefits kinda suck, too.

Carney's Departure Comes As Press Obama Fatigue Sets In

by JASmius

i.e. The sort of fatigue one incurs when your hero - or your perception of your hero - starts falling grievously short of the lofty expectations you have of him because you worshipfully love him so very, very much.

Sounds to me like the Obamedia is beginning to conclude that Lucifer is "not the right socialist" after all, but, loathe to blaspheme their demigod, they're taking it out of Jay Carney's hide, for now:

White House press secretary Jay Carney's resignation capped a tenure that saw the media grow increasingly restless toward President Barack Obama amid of a bevy of scandals, including the controversy that led to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki's departure on Friday, experts told Newsmax....

Democratic analyst and pollster Doug Schoen likened Carney's performance to that of the inept sergeant of the television sitcom "Hogan's Heroes."

"Press secretaries have a natural life of only about one term, so I am frankly surprised he has stayed as long as he has," he said in a statement. "That being said, he played the 'Sergeant Schultz' role well.

"He spouted the party line, avoided difficult questions, and maintained he knew very little about most subjects beyond what he had already said.

"A job well done, from the president's point of view."

And Tobe Berkovitz, an associate professor of advertising at Boston University, was even more caustic.

"Despite the fact that the press knows that he lied to them repeatedly, that he was part of the cover-up of a whole bunch of administration scandals, he will still get a job for probably several million dollars a year," he told Newsmax in an interview. "The irony would be if he goes into a healthcare provider."

Ouch.  That left a mark.  Especially the "Sergeant Schultz" crack.  I guess I never thought of it because John Banner could have carried around Jay Carney in his front coat pocket.  Besides, his sexual ambiguity aside, Carney has always been more interested in Russians than Germans, anyway.

Maybe the "experts" have forgotten that the job description of White House propaganda ministers hasn't always been "the Sergeant Schultz role" - "I know NOTHINK, NOTHINK!" - but rather has been distinctively so under Barack Hussein Obama due to the fact of the sheer number and volume and weight of the Regime's scandals.  And if the Obamedia is growing weary of it all, it's a considerable understatement to observe that they really do have nobody to blame but themselves for shoving Dr. Chicago down the nation's gullet six years ago and keeping him there ever since.

Traditionally - which is to say, under Republican administrations - the job of the White House press secretary is as first line of defense against the raging, scandalmongering berserker hordes the media become when their party is out of power.  Which is most of why Ari Fleischer speaks of, "tak[ing] that podium and stand[ing] my ground on behalf of a president I believed in."  That is to say, Fleischer was defending his president and his country against the hostile forces seeking to destroy the former and "fundamentally transform" the latter, whereas Carney, for the vast majority of his tenure, was collaborating with friendly forces to deify a foreign-minded dictator and defend the "fundamental transformation" they all believed in from the indigenous American forces seeking to roll it all back.  And now that their "messiah's" clay feet have grown to Colossus proportions and the cause isn't as fun and rewarding as it used to be, the press corps is grumbling and a little heat that Fleischer wouldn't even have recognized as such compared to the crucible in which he did battle on a daily basis for two and a half years sent Carney fleeing to the exit.

Color me unimpressed.

That Tobe Berkovitz, an associate professor of advertising at Boston University, is right as rain that Carney will cash in hugely his run as the top name in faux ignorance performance art probably ought to disgust me to the lining of my intestinal tract and send it all violently churning up my esophagus and fountaining acidly out all my agonized facial orifices, but for my distinct lack of ignorance and the robust cynicism it perpetually breeds.

Again, nice work if you can get it.  And I'd like to.

Pity there'll never again be a "president I believe in".

Transgenderism Progresses as Next Civil Rights Issue

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The thing about slippery slopes is that once you start sliding down one, it is pretty much impossible to stop until you slam into the concrete wall (great flood, fire and brimstone) at the bottom, or smack into an unforgiving stump along the way.  Either way, it's gonna smart once the slide stops.  Getting back up the hill is like trying to climb a greased pole.  It can be done, but it is going to take incredible effort leaving the base of the climb behind.

Millenials are abandoning the Christian foundation of their parents and grandparents in droves, viewing the faithful as being judgmental, hypocritical, and intolerant.  The sojourn away from God, and the Christian values this nation was founded upon, carry profound implications on a nation that has been dominated by a religious culture for hundreds of years.

Generally, the population views Christianity as having good values and principles, but are suspect of the religious structure and various characters that make up the leadership of The Church.  In truth, this makes today's generation closer to the attitude of the founders than one might expect.

The Founding Fathers were not a bunch of "deists" or "secularists," as deconstructionists may want everyone to think, but they were skeptical of established religions.  The organized church carry many of the same structural flaws that tyrannical central governments do, while using their "religious power" to sway the opinion of the faithful when they can.  In other words, the founders did not have a problem with Christianity, but with those that peddled it.  They saw the organized churches, and the leadership of religion, as being judgmental, hypocritical, and intolerant.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to Mr. Charles Thompson, referring to a book he made by cutting and pasting the philosophies of Christ from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, in order to use to evangelize to the Indians in the frontier lands, "I, too, have made a wee-little book from the same materials (The Gospels) which I call the Philosophy of Jesus.  It is a paradigma of his doctrines, made by cutting the texts out of the book and arranging them on the pages of a blank book, in a certain order of time or subject.  A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen.  It is a document in proof that I am a REAL CHRISTIAN (all CAPS by Jefferson), that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus, very different from the Platonists, who call ME infidel and THEMSELVES Christians and preachers of the Gospel, while they draw all their characteristic dogmas from what its author never said nor saw.  They have compounded from the heathen mysteries a system beyond the comprehension of man, of which the great reformer of the vicious ethics and deism of the Jews, were he to return on earth, would not recognize one feature."

The solution was not to abandon the church, but to turn to Christ.  Religion is man-made, but Faith in Him is God-made.  But, how does one encourage a nation to turn from fleshly desires that has it sliding down a slippery slope without a church that is willing to stand on God's Word?

Religion is failing at trying to figure out how to bring back to their halls a generation that seeks estrangement from organized religion.  They are compromising their views on homosexuality, and other moral issues, to encourage the younger crowd to return.  The church leaders are obeying government by remaining silent on any issue that is politicized, and are watering down their message about salvation and the consequence of eternal damnation so as to encourage folks that they aren't as judgmental as this generation seems to think they are.

The leftists understand the rules of the game.  We are in a culture war, and they are waging their campaign accordingly.  The radicals demand from value-driven Americans rigid compliance with their Christian value system, and then they launch their assaults of personal destruction with the goal of ridiculing their opposition into silence, or surrender, when the left's perception is that the faithful swayed from their path.  Among the insults are that the fallen are hypocritical, intolerant, and judgmental. . . even if the exaggeration is miles from the truth.

The effort by the left, however, is not just to change the culture, but to continue to herd their enemy away from the system of values the faithful hold so dear.  This is achieved by pushing the envelope each time the culture adjusts to the new standard away from morality.  A new morality is created, a pluralistic system where morals become fluid, and the old standards become evil.  From promiscuity to homosexuality, the steps along the way have been a process, a journey, to the point that the pathway has become predictable.

A value-driven society considers one's rights to be God-given, therefore "rights" hold great worth to the faithful.  The leftists have learned, then, to herd society away from a value-driven system, and away from the Christian God, everything they want only needs to be labeled a "right".  Each new step along the progressive path towards a secular world of humanism, is to call each of the immoral nuggets along the way a human right, or a civil right.  How can someone argue against someone's rights?  How can somebody support legislation that takes away somebody's human right, or civil right, as defined by a society demanding tolerance and a move against religious sanctimoniousness?

The breakthrough began with the truth, a true civil right involving race.  The civil rights of racial minorities became the base of the movement, a starting point to use.  A little truth, and a very emotional issue, could now be used to launch the string of "rights" that could be used to destroy the "value base" of the system.  Pornography became a right.  How can someone argue that people should not be allowed to view pornography?  How can someone argue that people should not be allowed to do other things as well?  Abortion became a woman's right to her body, and then emerged a homosexual's right to marry, and so forth.  How can one argue?  Government should not be used to deny people of their rights. . . correct?

A compelling argument that is impossible to stand up to because the structure of the argument is sound.

I, myself, have argued that government has no business being involved with marriage, whether it be heterosexual, or gay.  And my argument is a true statement.  It is not a government authority, and when government does begin to regulate such things, it is not to provide freedom, but to control the issue so that it becomes politicized, and can be utilized in their favor.  Government creates victimized groups, and then caters to those groups they created to protect them from those that want to take away their rights.

It is a brilliant strategy, and lends one to believe that the "freedom to marry anyone you want" is inevitable.

Those that are herding us away from God are accusing the "Religious Right" of having a willingness to deny a group their rights, and the value-based segment of the population that believes things like abortion, and homosexuality, are a sin have not figured out how to frame their argument without sounding exactly like what they are being accused of.

And it is working so well, they won't stop the progression.  Leftism doesn't know how to stop the progression.  Their desire is not based on morality, or what is best for the society, but is based on progressing away from God.  If the "religious right" feels one way about something, it is an automatic likelihood the liberal left will take the opposite side of the issue.

Sexuality has always been their favorite.  The entertainment industry has always pushed the boundaries of sex on the big and little screen, and in music.  It is a base desire of humans.  It feels good.  Of course we are going to giggle each time they move the envelope just a little further.  Of course we are glued to the tube with each exposure due to a wardrobe malfunction.  Of course we were mesmerized by Sharon Stone's white dress and crossing legs.  Of course we acted like a bunch of curious middle-schoolers when girls began kissing girls in the movies, and eventually on television.  It's just a little more leg here, and a little more innuendo there, and they had us hooked.

The liberal left has achieved a milestone.  With a well-funded, and well-choreographed, campaign, 2% of the population has convinced a large swath of society that homosexuality should be normalized, and acceptable in all walks of life.  In fact, the herding of human tools has worked so well that now daring to oppose the gay agenda is being criminalized.  Refusing to bake a cake, or take photographs of a gay wedding party, can result in fines, and government dictates against one's place of business.  Confinement by law enforcement for refusal to obey the gay overlords is surely in the near future.

Which brings us to the next rung on the ladder of progression.

According to TIME Magazine, the next civil rights battle will be for transgender people, a.k.a. people that have taken actions to change their gender, be it through hormone treatments, lifestyle (behavior and dress), or through the mutilation of their genitalia.  Like homosexuality, the transgender lifestyle is a chosen behavior that is being sold as a born identity no different than someone's race or ethnicity.  Drag Queens and Butches, as history has seen these folks, claim it is their civil right, their human right, to do whatever they want. . . in other words, failure to allow them to act like their confused selves in the military, on the job, and so forth, in their opinion, should be criminalized.  Ultimately, as we are seeing with homosexuals, failure to accommodate these people will be criminalized.  Businesses will face lawsuits, and punitive consequences, for daring not to bend over backwards for these folks.  How long before a church is sued, and loses the lawsuit, because they refused to let a drag queen run a Sunday School class of a bunch of little boys?

The progression will not stop there.  Next is polygamy, beastiality, and eventually these people will work to normalize pedophelia (child molestation). . . a trend that is already in place.

It is progression, in the eyes of the liberal left.  That is how the liberal left works.  The push never stops.  The next immorality will always step to the plate, until the liberal left has their tyrannical utopia, or everything collapses.

Solutions?

The solution is not through government, but through adherence to the United States Constitution, and for the churches to stop capitulating.  The faithful needs to take a leadership role in society.  Culture is not changed away from madness through government.  That is the tool of the collectivist humanists.  Ours must be by leadership, a church that stands on its values, and becomes a louder voice than the madness.  Let them scream we are intolerant, judgmental and hypocritical.  All we must do is expose them as liars through our actions and our testimony.  Forget organized religion.  Set aside the man-made portion of religion.  Rely on God's message of love.

As I tell people: First, Christianity is all inclusive.  Anyone can accept Christ as their Savior.  Second, "You may not believe in God, but He believes in you."

The question is, are we willing to take the difficult steps to relay that message?  Are we willing to stop standing with one foot in The Word, and the other in the world?  Are we ready to face the ridicule, and pull out the Sword of Scripture?

Like the Constitution, however, we can't swing that sword, or use our armor, if we don't understand it.  We must be in the Word, and we must be in prayer.

Revolution requires revival.  Revival requires a people willing to wage it.

Sexual immorality to satisfy unnatural lust is nothing new.  During the days before the Great Flood that led Noah to build an Ark, and before the firestorm that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, both societies were going after strange flesh, according to the Bible.  The definition of strange flesh includes homosexuality, beasts, and beings that were not fully genetic humans. . . A lesson we seem to have forgotten.  The lust of ages, human nature, fleshly desire, is the path to destruction.  Do we choose to return to the path that always leads to the collapse of civilizations, or are we willing to stand on truth and virtue to save it?

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

The Transgender Tipping Point - TIME Magazine

Normalizing Pedophelia - National Review Online

Beastiality Brothels Are Taking Germany by Storm - Huffington Post

Three (Parents) Can Be A Crowd, but for Some It's a Family - NPR

Polygamy the Next Major Civil Rights Movment? - Washington Examiner

Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 1:7

"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Genesis 6:5.


Friday, May 30, 2014

No Ten Commandments Allowed on Private Property

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The United States was founded on the Rule of Law; Laws of Nature of Nature's God.  Our courts are emblazoned with the Ten Commandments, because the Ten Commandments are the foundation of our system of justice.  We are a nation founded on the values, and legal principles, of the Bible.

Over the last two centuries the crowd that desires that we are governed by the rule of man have done whatever they can to erase the influence of Divine Providence on America's founding, and our judicial system.  Even private prayer is being eliminated from the public square.

In Texas, Jeannette Golden erected a six by twelve foot sign on her property next to Highway 21, and shortly after putting it up the Texas Department of Transportation ordered that the sign be removed, classifying it as commercial advertising.

Golden then painted over the website on the display, to change it from "advertising" to a personal message.  But officials rejected her correction, calling it “outdoor advertising,” and requiring a permit.  The permit would cost $125, with an annual fee of $75 and a $250 surety bond. Fines for failure to obtain a permit are as high as $1,000 per day.

However, the D.O.T. also indicated that “no permit is possible” and that the sign must be removed as pursuant to the Highway Beautification Act, which relates to advertising. Golden is insistent that her sign is not an advertisement.

“I wasn’t advertising because that’s my freedom of religion, and that’s what I believe, and I was not informing anybody,” she told reporters. “It was just something that I stood for.”

Local residents have rallied around Golden by purchasing a billboard not too far from her property that reads “In God We Trust.” Others have verbally expressed support for the right to display the sign.

“[N]ot only has my phone been ringing off the hook, but people would see me in the community and say, ‘Don’t let that sign go down.”

The Liberty Institute, a local Christian legal organization, has taken the case.  Attorney Michael Berry, by written correspondence, asserted that the state’s actions violate the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution.

“Such a total ban on Mrs. Golden having a sign or imposing additional restrictions is a substantial burden on her religious calling and mission of displaying the Ten Commandments in the manner she was called to do on her private property and the state has no compelling interests to support such a total bans,” the letter reads.

“It is outrageous that TXDOT is preventing Texans from having signs on their own private property,” Berry also told reporters. “Religious freedom and private property rights are some of the most sacred rights Texans and Americans enjoy, dating back to the founding of Texas and our nation. It is also shocking that a TXDOT attorney would belittle the religious beliefs of Texans.”

Berry was referring to an email that came to light from TXDOT attorney Ron Johnson that asked, “I wonder how they’d feel about a quote from the Quran?”

Would the Texas Department of Transportation require the removal of a sign with a quote from the Quran?  I am betting the answer is, "No."

However, I am wondering if "Yes" will be the answer to other questions in the near future...

For example: Would the Texas Department of Transportation ticket people for carrying a Bible while walking along the side of the road because it is visible to drivers?  Should a bumper sticker relaying a Christian message and a website be required to be permitted as commercial advertising?

One question regarding Mrs. Golden's situation remains.  Would Mrs. Golden have been asked to take the sign down if it had a huge rainbow on it, and proclaimed "Support Gay Marriage?"

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Hard Starboard Radio: Betrayal, Outing, Droning & Dying



Farewell, Afghanistan, we hardly knew ye; Why no outrage over Barack Obama's Plamegate?  It's a rhetorical question, but we've got the answer anyway; Obama's West Point speech and his policy of retreat are characterized by smallness, and that's the point; Nothing at the VA will change so long as Obamunist blind faith in government goes unquestioned, which means nothing will ever change at the VA - and there's a bonus in it for them besides.

One demoralizing Open Thighs Friday, coming up at 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific.  Would you like a side of organic brussel sprouts with that?

Jay Carney Pulls The Ejection Lever

by JASmius

This is turning into Resignation Friday - could Barack Obama's be next? <hopeful look>:

After more than three years of jousting with the White House press corps, President Barack Obama's chief spokesman, Jay Carney, will step down next month to pursue yet-to-be-named opportunities, Obama announced on Friday.

Carney's deputy, Josh Earnest, will take his place, the president said.
Technically, I didn't call Eric Shinseki's ouster, but I'll give myself Carney's.

Every man has his limit for self-humiliation.  I guess the same thing applies to whatever the hell Carney's gender is.  Which indicates an at least barely detectable degree of self respect with which I never would have credited him.

Even knowing how much I'll loathe and laugh at Josh Earnest, I can't envy him the hand he's been dealt.  But then, I'd almost guarantee that "Earnest" is a stage name, anyway.

It's almost a pity that Duck Dynasty wasn't canceled after all.  I know I'd watch Obama White House daily press briefings if Phil Robertson was delivering them.

Shinseki's Plug Is Pulled

by JASmius

Veterans Affairs Commissar Eric Shinseki submitted his resignation on Friday, and Obama accepted, agreeing that the organization needs new leadership.



Well, whaddaya know, Light-Bringer saw reason after all.  And this tells you all you need to know about how the White House is now perceiving VA-gate.  It's like the joke about what you have when you hold two tiny green spheres in your hand: Kermit's undivided attention.  IOW, they're taking it deadly seriously.  Red alert, all hands on deck.  Nothing must be allowed to endanger Godbama or his crown jewel.  Against that backdrop, Eric Shinseki didn't stand a snowball's chance.

And now, under fresh, new leadership, the VA can, and will, keep right on neglecting veterans to death by the dozens and hundreds and thousands.

That will be all.  Carry on.

Or else.

Detroit's Water Revenue Goes Bye Bye

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The world is not static.  Every action creates other actions. . . not always an opposite reaction. Failures, Taxation, and heavy regulation normally causes people trying to survive to head for the hills, or take their business to another State or out of the country.  Once the ball starts rolling, it gets worse, snowballing, until the system reaches full collapse.

Detroit is just about there.

Taxes went up, fees went up, regulations increased, and the entitlement system reached epic proportions.  The wealthy left, the businesses moved out, and those dependent upon the system stayed right where they were at.

The revenue began to dry up as the spending increased.

The failed city lost its luster, began to shrivel under the assault of progressivism, until finally only a few sources of revenue remained. . . and they are getting ready to lose one of those, as well.

Confused about how all of the revenue sources abandoned the city, I am sure the leadership quipped, "Well, at least we've got things like the city's water services that the surrounding cities and counties use.  That will never leave us."

Wrong!

Detroit's financial woes are worsening, and to add insult to injury, the city is losing one of its most reliable sources of revenue: contracts with surrounding communities for the city's water supply.

Detroit will no longer be the middle man in getting water from Lake Huron to neighboring communities.  The world is not static.  Eventually, the market will find a way to create a cheaper, more efficient way.  As Detroit's water system ages, the city of Flint has joined with Genesee County and others to build a $300 million pipeline parallel to an existing one to get water directly from the lake, cutting out the Motor City.

For Detroit, Flint's decision means losing its second-biggest customer and drying out an already-depleted revenue sheet.

Losing Flint and Genesee is expected to force Detroit to take a $22 million-a-year hit.

Like all good liberal left statism-loving people trying to hang on to the last of their money and power, Detroit tried to use the court system to stop the bleeding.  Detroit called the new pipeline a waste of resources and money. The courts disagreed.

The path around Detroit's water will be operational in the spring of 2016.

Detroit was increasing the cost to its customers as its water system became less reliable and older.  Rather than pay more for less, Detroit's customers decided to build their own “for less than the cost of continuing to purchase water from Detroit." An action that was an inevitable response to a liberal action.

The world is not static.

Detroit is the largest municipality to file for bankruptcy in U.S. history, having filed last summer, and they are doing all they can to hang on to what little they have left.  Desperate, the thrashing in the water isn't keeping them afloat, and the last of the revenue is heading for the hills. . . as Detroit shuts down more in-city services, more street lamps, and more police operations.

Detroit remains in talks with three other counties – Oakland, Macomb and Wayne -- to reorganize its water system as a regional operation.

When the price goes up, or the services begin to fail, those counties will be gone, too.

Privatization of the water system has been in the talks, but nothing has materialized.

Trying to convince anyone to take a chance on Detroit has been a tough sell.

After a history of liberal policies, and black nationalism, old habits are hard to break, and unfortunately the city will probably lose what little it has remaining before it has a chance to turn the corner.

Sometimes it takes hitting rock-bottom before an addict can admit their folly, and work to make a change.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Carney Dodges Queries On Obama's Confidence In Shinseki

by JASmius

The wheels on O's bus go 'round and 'round....:

Does President Barack Obama have confidence in embattled Veterans Affairs [Commissar] Eric Shinseki?

It was a simple question that White House Press Secretary Jay Carney repeatedly refused to answer Thursday, the Hill reports.

What a difference two weeks and one damning inspector general's report makes.

Carney, without hesitation, declared on May 12 that Obama was "confident in Secretary Shinseki's ability to take appropriate action based on the IG's findings."

He wouldn't utter the word Thursday the same way. no matter how hard ABC's Jonathan Karl tried at Thursday's White House briefing.
I've said for a long time now that House Speaker John Boehner has the most thankless job in D.C. because while he has to do hopelessly outnumbered battle with Barack Obama and Dirty Harry (G)Reid in front of him, he's also got to keep Tea Party knives out of his hexaribs behind him.  If anybody gives the Speaker a run for that unenviable money, it's Jay Carney.

How would you like a job where you had to go out there every day and make yourself sound like a Tourette's patient on a regular basis?  It's like a bizarre sort of performance art.  And the best part is that Carney isn't fooling anybody in the White House press gaggle.  Hell, he's one of them, remember?  Everybody in that press room yesterday knew the score; that IG report has made Commissar Shinseki a dead man walking.  It's just a matter of time.  And Carney's refusal to simply say that yes, the dictator still has confidence in his VA poobah communicated in the clear that that confidence is no longer present.  But the artifice wouldn't let him come out and say it.  And thus we get this weird rhetorical waltz where Jonathan Karl exasperatedly keeps chirping the same straight-forward question - Does The One still have confidence in Eric Shinseki? - and Carney replies, "Pittsburgh," or "six and seven-eighths" or "I have a red pencil box".

If the White House follows the Sebelius template, Shinseki will be given a grand, congratulatory sendoff after the midterm elections, and several dozen more vets have died waiting for treatment.  That's the only thing I can imagine that O would be waiting for.  IOW, ego uber alles; never bow to the mob he himself spawned.  Never let a scandal look like a scandal.  And up to now, he's had that luxury, because the press has continued to bow down and worship him no matter how much he treats them like the three-dollar "journalistic" whores they really are.  But this being a government healthcare scandal in the context of the ongoing ObamaCare cataclysm significantly reduces that, er, "scheduling flexibility".

Or at least, it should. The real problem with VA-gate isn't one of leadership, it's one of paradigm: government-run health care.  The dictator should want as little attention on this glaring example of what ObamaCare has in store for the country as possible.  Which ought to make bums-rushing Eric Shinseki out the scapegoat door a no-brainer.  It's "taking action" without actually addressing the problem.  It relieves the pressure, and leaves the cherished paradigm entrenchedly in place.  Best of all, it burnishes Red Barry's sorry-ass "leadership" image.

But, no.  Demigods don't make mistakes.  Anybody who suggests otherwise has a hellfire drone missile with their name on it GPS'd to their front door.  So Jay Carney keeps rolling out there to burble answers like "Boobs," "The Battle of Kasserine Pass," and "I got laid in a yellow submarine".

Nice work if you can get it.



Thursday, May 29, 2014

Constitution Study on I-Tunes

That's right, the Constitution Study Radio program where I go through the Constitution one half hour at a time, is available on I-Tunes for download.

GO HERE

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

A Constitutional Military

Temecula Constitution Class, 6:30 pm, Faith Armory, 41669 Winchester Road, Temecula, California

Lesson 09. . . Article I, Section 8, The Military Clauses

Join us tonight for the discussion.

Ben Carson Goes Godwinn

by JASmius

Dr. Ben Carson defends his recent comments in comparing Nazi Germany to the power of protest in the U.S., makes liberal CNN reporter look stupid.



He made Ted Stickland look like an ass as well.  Admittedly, not all that difficult a two-fer, but still entertaining.  I think the Doc went Godwinn deliberately just to have some fun with this panel of three-watt curly bulbs, personally.  Since a conservative can't get lefties to seriously debate any issues anyway, we have to find other ways of letting their maleficent ignorance shine forth, like that fetid canker on a hill whose black beacon of tyranny drowns freedom-loving people everywhere.

Well done, Doc.

America's Open Borders

From the Drudge Report
 
Washington scrambles to provide food, housing to DREAMers pouring across border...
60,000 children...
House bolsters probe into 'de facto amnesty'...
Immigration becomes central issue in Cantor race...
Charges fly...
Homeland: Agents shouldn't target illegals at courthouses...
Are we all racist now?


GO GREYHOUND: SCORES OF ILLEGALS DROPPED AT AZ BUS STOPS

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Hard Starboard Radio: Outsourcing The War On Terror



Obama Regime to enact racial segregation in Hawaii by unconstitutional Executive diktat; The Isla Vista shooting is a peculiar one for the white-privilege crowd to have latched onto; Michelle Obama scolds families who aren’t happy with her food Nazism; Democrats blame big government for their multiplicity of failures and scandals, and insist the solution is even bigger government; Denial of the clash of civilizations with Islam is guaranteeing Western defeat; Obama's tired refrains at West Point: a sad, half-hearted address to the wrong audience.

When in Rome.... at 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific.

Operation Choke Point

by JASmius

Pure, undiluted, 100% Obama Regime-imposed fascism:

In an administration that has pioneered the use of regulatory power to bully businesses into doing “voluntarily” what the bureaucrats can’t require by law, a secretive federal program that has become public in the last few months stands out as an especially disturbing abuse of power.

The program's name, “Operation Choke Point,” is a pretty strong indication of trouble — an eerie way for bureaucrats to describe their conduct toward private citizens.

It’s a reference to the banking system as the “choke point” of businesses, a critical piece of the economic infrastructure which government can co-opt to strangle legal activities it doesn't favor.

The revelation is alarming in part because it suggests federal officials have realized that they can leverage their strong regulatory authority over one industry, financial services, to exert broad control over many others.

"Bullying businesses into doing 'voluntarily' what the bureaucrats can't require by law" is precisely how the Nazis did business in Hitler's Germany.  It's basically efficient socialism: The government doesn't seize the means of production and run industries itself, but effectively nationalizes them in "hostile takeovers," rendering them de facto government sub-departments.

Guess what business sectors are in the Regime's crosshairs?:

In addition to “payday loans,” the document warns about “ammunition sales,” “firearms sales,” “coin dealers,” “online gambling,” “tobacco sales,” “racist materials,” “pornography,” and “telemarketing,” among others.

Bureaucrats, it seems, are indeed deputizing bankers and payment processors to cut off these industries from the financial services they need to survive. The Washington Times reported last week that banks and payment processors have been terminating the accounts of law-abiding gun dealers across the country.

Much like the letter to the payday lender in the Post, the Times quotes a bank assuring a gun dealer that its decision to drop him as a client “in no way reflects any derogatory reasons for such action on your behalf. But rather one of industry. Unfortunately your company’s line of business is not commensurate with the industries we work with.”

There are reports of similar account terminations in many other industries the FDIC has labeled "high-risk." [emphases added]

Guns, ammo, tobacco - pursuits the Left has tried to stamp out for decades.  Now the Regime has devised a way to do so - to make huge strides towards repealing the Second Amendment - tyrannically, abusively, unconstitutionally, and quietly.  And who gets to define what "racist materials" are?  There are many on the Left who believe the United States Constitution and the Bible, just to name a couple of documents, reside in that fetid category.  And since a black man rules this country, that definition could be made to encompass any organization that opposes any Obama Regime policy, up to and including the Republican Party itself.  Could Operation Choke Point not be used to coerce evangelical churches into performing sodomarriage rituals, and hiring homosexual "pastors," and forbidding churches from teaching the Bible and preaching the Gospel on those dubious grounds?  Or cutting off the RNC and GOP political campaigns?  And never mind Tea Party groups not being able to register as 501(c)(4) organizations, they could be cut off from even opening checking accounts.

Leading to the logical question: Who watches the watchers?  Who enforces the law against the law enforcers?  And how?

Perhaps O is saving those gambits for his third term.  Or perhaps he's already moving to implement them now.

Mr. Newt concludes thusly:

These developments should concern every American. For the government to hold banks responsible for monitoring the business of all their customers is unprecedented. To do so with the explicit aim of chilling the perfectly legal economic activities of private citizens is such a jaw-dropping abuse of power that it would have been unbelievable from any previous administration.

Still think Barack Obama is "incompetent"?  Or is that simply PR cover for something far more insidiously sinister?  Operation Choke Point would certainly appear to settle that question.

Obama: Let's Outsource The War On Terror

by JASmius

Mark Levin on Obama West Point commencement address.



Okay, I thought Levin would have something to say about O's announcement in that speech that he'll offer five or six billion dollars to any country willing to fight the War On Terror for us.  Yes, my friends, President Gutsy Call is such a believer in American exceptionalism that he's going to buy mercenaries to do our fighting for us.  Which is perfectly in character, since defending the country he detests is foreign to every fiber of his worthless being, while throwing money at problems is written into his misbegotten DNA.  Maybe he'll hire the Muslim Brotherhood to take on al Qaeda and its affiliates.  That should be an interesting "fight".

Remember the last global hegemon to outsource its foreign conflicts?  Rome.  So what could possibly go wrong with a reprise?

CNN's Costello: Michelle Obama Signs Bills Into Law

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Typical liberal lunacy?  You Decide.

CNN news anchor Carol Costello, not exactly a heavyweight in the sense of being a political mind, nor any other kind of mind it seems, and apparently one that fails to understand that anchors are not supposed to include their personal political commentary in their broadcasts, verified once again that she is either an idiot, one that has no understanding of how government's function, or both.

Last Tuesday, she made an interesting claim.  Costello said that First Lady Michelle Obama “signed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act into law.”

Huh?

While discussing that there were those out there that dared to oppose the act, which was the first lady’s initiative, she claimed Michelle signed the bill into law, rather than, as the Constitution requires, signed by President Obama.

After playing a clip of a rally regarding the bill, she declared, “That was Mrs. Obama back in 2010, when she signed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act into law.  Well now some members of Congress and the food industry want to roll back that initiative and loosen requirements to cut costs.”

Oh, no!  Those Republicans want to starve the children!!!!!!

A GOP-controlled House subcommittee advanced an initiative waiving certain expensive food requirements contained in the bill if a school district posts a six-month net loss on the program.

Michelle Obama claimed Republicans are “play[ing] politics with our kids’ health.”

The stomachs of the public school kids turns and churns with the disgusting dishes they are being offered through Michelle Obama's healthy school lunches program, while her kids eat chef prepared meals, and junk Michelle would never approve of being fed to the kids in the schools.  Personally, I don't care what they eat. . . it's just the hypocrisy of the whole thing I wanted to point out.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary


Barack Obama's War On Veterans

by JASmius

Accountability, after a fashion, but certainly no solution:

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki's tenure at the helm of the embattled agency grew more perilous on Wednesday, as several Democrats joined Republicans in calling for his resignation after a new report found widespread problems throughout the vast VA healthcare system.

"The inspector general's preliminary report makes it clear that the systemic problems at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are so entrenched that they require new leadership to be fixed. Secretary Shinseki must step down," Colorado Senator Mark Udall said in a statement.

The two-term Democrat, who is facing a tough re-election bid this fall against GOP Rep. Cory Gardner, is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"We need new leadership who will demand accountability to fix these problems and ensure the VA is providing Coloradans the services they've earned," Udall said.

He was the first Democrat senator to call for Shinseki to step down, but was soon joined by others. John Walsh of Montana, said that Shinseki needed to go because "America's veterans deserve an immediate end to the troubles plaguing the VA, and we must take urgent steps to secure the care they deserve.

"With the launch of inspections of VA facilities nationwide, it’s time to put the partisanship aside and focus on what’s right for our veterans."

Then North Carolina's Kay Hagan piled on, saying she was "outraged" by the report. "We can no longer put our faith in the current VA leadership’s ability to fix these problems," she said.

Late Wednesday Minnesota's Al Franken and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire also called for Shinseki to go.

All five of the Democrats face elections in November.

And now you see why "The Gang of Five" is parroting the "Neocon Menage a Toi".  McCain, Grahamnesty, and Ayotte may or may not be trying to "score political points," but they definitely suffer from the lack of imagination that sees the VA scandal as a "failure of leadership" instead of the "It doesn't matter who the captain is, it's always going to hit the iceberg" bureaucratic Titanic it really is.  Udall, Walsh, Hagen, Franken, and Shaheen don't give a rodent's rectum about the VA but are most especially "playing defensive politics" in the interests of career self-preservation.  Which makes it all the more ironic that Udall actually touched on the true issue - systemic problems, which is to say, the same government-run single-payer system his party wants to inflict on everybody else and largely already has via ObamaCare, for which he voted and which has his ass hanging out to electoral wind at the moment.

The IG report that constituted Commissar Shinseki's latest death thro is what you would have expected:

The interim report by Richard Griffin, the VA's acting inspector general, disclosed that as many as 1,700 veterans in need of care were "at risk of being lost or forgotten" after being kept off the wait lists at the Phoenix Veterans' Administration Center. The report found that investigators had "substantiated serious conditions" at the facility.

The 35-page document confirmed allegations of excessive waiting time for care at the Arizona facility, with an average 115-day wait for a first appointment for those on the wait list.

"While our work is not complete, we have substantiated that significant delays in access to care negatively impacted the quality of care at this medical facility," Griffin wrote in the report.

The investigation also found that "inappropriate scheduling practices are systemic throughout" the nationwide VA healthcare system, which serves about 6.5 million veterans each year.
1,700 vets.  So the forty dead ones that ignited this scandal were just the vanguard, the leading edge of the engineered disaster.  And if you project those numbers onto the entire American population, you get an equivalent number of "at risk of being lost or forgotten" in the universal Medicaid system into which the Obama Regime is bent on herding us of over eighty thousand.  Or approximately 27 9/11 attacks.

None need wonder why Democrats are pissing themselves in terror and pining for Eric Shinseki to depart.  It's the only way they can look like they're "doing something" about VA-gate without actually doing anything.

And Montel Williams, for one, is mad as hell and isn't going to take it anymore:

Former talk show host and retired Navy Lieutenant Commander Montel Williams warns that the United States cannot continue as a democracy if it doesn't fix the current Veterans Health Administration scandal.

"Democracies don't stand when you can't man an army, and you can't man an army if you lie to those who want to protect you," Williams said Wednesday on Fox News Channel's "Your World with Neil Cavuto."

I'm sorry, Commander, but this country (1) was never a "democracy" and nor ever meant to be (It was a constitutional federal republic), and, (2) if it had been, that distinction ended on November 6th, 2012 in any case.

Veterans groups and members of the House and Senate have called for the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, but Williams told Cavuto it would do little good, since the problem is systemic.

"There have been thirty years of studies, committees," a visibly angry Williams told Fox News.

Williams reasons farther than any senator has, but still doesn't quite hit paydirt:

Citing the troop surge Obama launched in Afghanistan in 2009, Williams called for a "VA surge" in which recently discharged corpsmen from each branch of service could be re-activated for a short period to help clear the backlog in VA hospitals.

He told viewers to help him gather support by tweeting him at @Montel_Williams and using the hashtag #VASurge.





Instead of "#PrivatizeTheVA" we get "VASurge"?  And a hashtag campaign?  It's not as pathetic as the White House's idea of waging war against jihadists in northwest Africa, but if a man in Lieutenant Commander Williams' position was going to go all Howard Beale on the country, I'd have thought he wouldn't have squandered it on such a letdown.

Sorry, gentles, but shuffling around deckchairs on a ship designed to sink isn't going to "fix the problem".  The VA is a disease that only the private sector can remedy.  And that is what Barack Obama and the Democrat Party are most afraid of.

Exit questions: Over/under on how far away Commissar Shinseki is from tasting those bus wheels?  And when his way out of this travail is to throw a single high-level scalp to his obtuse pursuers, why doesn't O just get rid of Shinseki and make the problem go away?  Or is it "Sebelius Syndrome," aka not wanting to be perceived as acknowledging anything short of official omniscience and omnipotence?

Obama's "Separate but Equal" Plans for America Begins in Hawaii

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama in 2008 campaigned on uniting America.  There is no red or blue, he told us.  There are only Americans.

The Democrat Party, the media, and Mr. Obama himself proclaimed that we are in a post-racial society, and if he was to be elected, that would simply confirm that racism is a thing of the past.

Eager voters cast their votes for the young candidate, believing his rhetoric, or wanting to convince themselves that they, too, were post-racial.

Barack Obama was hailed as a constitutional lawyer, a scholar that lectured on the United States Constitution.  If ever there was a man that could unite the country, people believed, it was this man.

Had they have done a little research, they would have realized that Obama's only connection to the United States Constitution was that he lectured on the 14th Amendment. . . more specifically, how to use it to create racial division.

During the presidency of Barack Obama, the United States has been divided along ethnic lines in ways that no politician has been able to accomplish in our nation's short history.

In line with the policies of the Divider in Chief, liberals around the nation are working to divide America, and foment racism.  In Hawaii, the Obama administration is reportedly considering the implementation of an independent tax and legal structure that would apply only to the state’s native race.

“There is no constitutional basis for conferring such status,” said civil rights spokesperson Carissa Mulder; “and Congress has repeatedly refused to confer this status.”

She concluded that this announcement “seems to be yet another case of the Obama administration ignoring the law to achieve its policy objectives.”

Others feel such policies could easily be expanded to include other races, effectively dismantling the efforts throughout the 20th Century to create equality of all Americans regardless of skin color.

“If you can do that with groups that are already part of the mainstream, you can balkanize the country,” explained University of San Diego law professor Gail Heriot.

The goal, according to the evidence revealed by the proposal, is “to more effectively implement the special political and trust relationship that Congress has established between that community and the United States.”

The claims are that the intention has roots in the protection of land revenue distributed to native Hawaiians, but there is no precedent for establishing a separate government for members of a race.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Seeking to Eliminate Elliot Rodger's Due Process

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The general discussion following the killing spree of Elliot Rodger in Isla Vista near UC Santa Barbara is the same discussion we hear after each and every mass killing committed.  How could he have been stopped.  How could this have been prevented.  Did law enforcement properly do their job?  A number of the talking heads are saying that these shootings we have been seeing over the last few years are a sign that our mental health system is out of whack.

Was Elliot Rodger guilty while he was still innocent because of his behavior?

Hindsight is 20/20.  Were there signs that the unstable mind of Elliot Rodger was capable of mass murder? Sure.  But do you then arrest him for being loony before he commits a crime?  Should he have been taken into custody because he produced a crazy manifesto where he "said" he wanted to commit violence?

In a system that champions liberty, due process is an important component.  Due process is the basis upon which the Justice System of the United States is founded. Due Process is introduced in Article III of the United States Constitution, and reaffirmed in amendments IV through VIII. In the modern legal system, the essential elements of due process of law are notice, an opportunity to be heard, the right to defend in an orderly proceed, and an impartial judge. It is founded upon the basic principle that every man shall have his day in court, and the benefit of the general law which proceeds only upon notice and which hears and considers before judgement is rendered. In short, due process means fundamental fairness and substantial justice, and the basic understanding that all persons are innocent until proven guilty - no matter what the screaming mob may think or say.

If someone like Elliot Rodger is apprehended before committing an atrocity, because he or she exhibits behavior consistent with the government's definition of a potential mass killer, is such an action in line with our concept of due process?

As tragic as the deaths of those killed by mass murderers like Elliot Rodger is, and no matter how much any of us wish that he should and could have been stopped before it happened, at what point of taking into custody a person before they actually commit a crime do we decide that perhaps we have let go of too many freedoms in the name of security?

Taking a pre-crime position, apprehending individuals because they exhibit behaviors consistent with government definitions before they ever actually commit a crime, also opens up a Pandora's Box filled with a massive number of slippery slopes that outnumber the stars in the sky.  Giving law enforcement, or government, that kind of power opens up the opportunity for various definitions of all kinds to be established that would intrude on our freedoms in ways far beyond thoughtcrimes, and pre-crime.

An alarming outburst by liberal leftist Bob Beckel on Fox News that another host's criticisms of Obama were "treasonous," and Michelle Obama's words to a high school graduating class for the young people to monitor their parents for racist remarks, reveals to us how close we are to enabling the government, using their definitions, to take into custody people not only for their behaviors that are thought to possibly lead to violence, but behaviors and verbalities that dare to stand in opposition to the ruling elite's agenda.  Businesses are being successfully sued for daring to stand behind their religious beliefs regarding homosexuality, and Maine has fined an "anti-gay" group for not releasing their donor list to government using campaign finance laws as their weapon of choice . . . not long after the IRS went after conservative groups for daring to disagree with the liberal left establishment in government - in turn frightening off GOP donors. . . an action that may have had a significant impact on the 2012 Election.  If we begin arresting psychotic potential killers before they commit a crime, how long before being a conservative is defined as potentially dangerous, and those that dare to show any dissent are arrested for behavior not accepted by the government's long list of definitions?

I understand that we hurt every time some lunatic like Elliot Rodger goes on a mass killing spree, but if we are willing to toss aside our system of justice and due process "for the common good," and "peace and safety" when it comes to the determination of if someone with "mental problems" like Elliot Rodger should be detained before they have the opportunity to murder, it won't be long before dissent against the government is characterized as sedition, or is considered a mental illness. . . and then it won't be long before the establishment's Orwellian thought police begins arresting people for wrong thoughts, unacceptable behaviors, or because a neighbor turned them in because he overheard them say something he thought to be racist, or not approving of President Barack Obama.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Michelle Obama: Monitor Your Parents for Thoughtcrime - Daily Caller

The Five's Bob Beckel Accuses Guilfoyle of "Treasonous" Remark About Obama - YouTube

Does Mental Illness Explain Elliot Rodger's Murder Spree - Reason

Maine fines national anti-gay marriage group - Yahoo News

Obama's Labor Secretary Tweets Advice to Grads: Don't be an individual, Join the Collective - Young Conservatives

Did the White House Threaten a Reporter's Career Over Benghazi? - Personal Liberty

Greta Van Susteren's Career Threatened by Obama Administration - The US Patriot

Screamin' Howard Dean Says Republicans are Not American, Should Leave The Country - Independent Journal Review

Government Offices Confirm my Thoughts

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Due to recent events in my life I have had to deal with government offices quite a bit.  The more I get involved with government bureaucracy, the more they confirm to me my feelings about how government is not the solution. . . government is the problem.

Evan Sayet makes a living as a conservative comedian, which I believe is not hard to do, because the liberal left provides material at every turn.  All we have to do is observe, and report, and the lunacy is so shocking we can't help but laugh at the idiots on the left.

Yes, that is right, Democrats. . . we are making fun of you, by simply retelling the truth.

Without going into details, for a few months now I have been working through injuries I received on the job.  The Worker's Compensation lawyers are doing what they can to protect the pockets of the insurance company, and employer, and I am doing what I can to make sure I am able to properly heal using the system that is in place.  Since the case is still in progress, that means I am eligible for Unemployment Disability Insurance until the lawyers are done yelling at each other.

When it was first applied for my case was denied, and then after repeal approved by the State disability insurance system.  Then, over a month later I received the first check for two weeks of time off.  More than a month later, I still have not seen a second payment.  Two weeks of trying to contact the phone center has resulted in a constant, and consistent, number of opportunities to be hung up on by an automated system that begins with "Press 1 for English."  Finally, this morning, I decided it was time to go down to my local office (that turns out to be over an hour drive away) to resolve the matter.

And that is when the fun began.

Understand, my injuries make it difficult for me to sit longer than about twenty minutes, or walk long distances.

Keep that in mind as I tell you the tale.

I decided to leave around 9:00 am to miss the worst of the morning traffic, and hopefully beat the afternoon traffic returning to my area of Southern California.  Aside from some traffic from construction on a freeway, and having to stop a few times to get out of my car and walk around so that the long-term sitting didn't create too much pain, the trip to the office was uneventful.

As I got off the freeway, and began to drive up the main drag, I saw an unemployment office on the left, and decided to go in there, just in case my office for disability insurance had moved, and I didn't know about it.

The parking was wonderful, with plenty of spaces right next to the main entrance, and empty customer spaces all around the building.  Given my difficulties walking long distances, the nearby parking was appreciated.

Once inside, I realized it was probably not the place I needed to be.  It was a job center, but much unlike any I had ever seen.

My experiences with unemployment office job centers has always been a roomful of cubicles with a worker at each desk ready and eager to help the next person seek employment.  In this office, there were two employees: The information desk person, and a security guard.  The cubicles were nearly all filled with customers, tapping away on computers, on the internet.  That's right, folks, the office was there so that people could use the online services they could have used at home.

That's it.

After signing in, waiting in line, and finding out I was in the wrong place, I drove up the street to where I needed to be.  Unfortunately, the parking for the disability office, which services people with disabilities, did not offer as good as parking as the place for able-bodied folks receiving unemployment benefits.

The building I needed to go to was in a complex with a half a dozen buildings, and the disability office was in the back of the complex, tucked in the corner, with half a dozen "customer only" parking spaces near the door - all of which were occupied.  The disabled parking spaces for the disability office were nowhere near.  They were in the next parking lot, next to the next building to the east.  All other parking in the complex were labeled "Permit Parking Only."  About one in ten of those spaces was occupied by a vehicle.

The next closest parking for people needing to go to the disability office was on the street (which was limited due to construction, and all available spaces were occupied), or across the street.  I found a space at the farthest point from the building I needed to go to.  In the end, it turned out it took longer for me to make the trek to the office, than it was for me to spend time in the office.

Because of the long walk, I elected to leave my computer in the car, and take with me only my tablet and phone.  I stopped twice during the long walk, to rest as my injuries were beginning to be a pain.  I had expected a DMV style visit, sitting in a large room full of smelly people and crying babies, waiting for hours upon hours to be seen for a five minute visit.  It turns out, the disability office is not that crowded, nor is it designed to handle such a crowd.

The building is large, filled with a massive amount of personnel manning a phone system that I was never able to get through to.  The customer area was small.  My master bathroom is larger.  I have seen walk-in closets larger than the area for customers at the disability office.  The room was designed sort of like a check cashing place, with a small bench to sit on, walls covered with various informational posters, a few forms on the wall, and a bulletproof glass window with a slide drawer between you and the customer service representative.

I was second in line once I signed in.

Signing in was interesting in its own right.  The clipboard had a sign on the window above it, that said, "You must sign in to be assisted.  Customers will be assisted in order of sign in."

But the clipboard was on the counter outside the window, on my side of the bulletproof glass.  How was the guy behind the glass checking the clipboard?  Could he even see it?

Before I could tap out a single sentence on my device to share the comedy of my visit with my valued readers, I was motioned to the window by the heavy-set man in a New York Yankees T-Shirt behind the glass.  I explained my problem, and he slapped his hands on the keyboard with reckless abandon, ultimately determining my paperwork had a problem and that is why everything had been delayed.  In other words, they received my paperwork I mailed after I received my first benefit, but the processing of the paperwork had been stopped.

I asked, "Did I make an error on the form?"

"Nope," he said.  "It was our fault."

And it would never have been checked, and corrected if I had not made the long drive, and the long walk, to disability benefits central.

I made a reference to not being able to call in, and he motioned to the telephone action center behind him and said, "Nobody get's through."

One comment had been that if I ever did get through, it was a good indication my luck was ready to play the lottery.

He fixed my account, promised me everything was good and proper, and sent me on my merry way.

"Next," he said, without glancing at the clipboard.  The only other person in the room was an old woman standing behind a line marked with tape on the floor to ensure the person next in line was far enough away they could not hear the person's personal information at the window. . . you know, about six feet away.

When I asked about being able to do the forms online I was informed it takes creating an account which includes using snail mail for a part of the process.

In line with a story I once wrote, I wondered if I would be fined for being willing to use paper forms in a system striving to be paperless, and commonsense-less.

Then I stepped outside, and prepared for the long walk to my car, realizing that bringing the computer had been a mistake since all it did was sit in my car while I was taking care of business.  The other mistake was not bringing a canteen.

Bureaucracy at its finest.

The moral of the story?  Perhaps that argument by liberals about voter idea laws, where they claim the poor are unable to get an identification card, is not so far fetched. . . not because the poor are not capable, but because the system is so screwed up it would take an Indiana Jones style trek just to get to the office, much less wade through the red tape and bureaucracy to get an ID.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary